Frostbite
by Nikki-Uzumaki
Summary: WARNING: YAOI! Pairing RenxHoro. Horo and Ren have to watch over the inn while everyone else is away for the week. Harsh words are spoken and one falls ill. no deaths. and is my 2nd Yaoi story
1. harsh words & a cold heart

Disclaimer:  
Hikari: ok… Hikari-no-shinjitsu doesn't own shaman king, or the Yaoi couple RenxHoro yes for those of you who didn't read the memo this is a YAOI story which means Guys liking guys if you don't like it leave! O and this is my first Yaoi multi chapter wish me luck, positive comments will be welcomed greatly, Flames are accepted.

"blah" -Talkin

_Blah -_thinkin/ or Facts about the illness

Author note: ok warning ahead of time for OOC-ness, Yaoi pairing, Illness, usual stuff. No one will die in this story well not any of the shaman's that I like that's all but the X-laws who aren't in this story thank gods first thing I would have done was shoot him or have Ren slice him apart with his Kwan Dao. O and All facts relating to the illness are 100 accurate from what I know.. I went to Ask jeeves to find full information (find out the illness for yourself its in the story). Enjoy the story!

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Chapter one: Harsh words and a cold heart 

Ugh… the Tao mumbled as he stirred from his sleep, looking out from his blanket-cocoon the windowsill beside his bed showed light flakes falling from the sky. _o great its snowing._

Meanwhile in Horo's room, the Ainu teen came thundering out of his room "GREAT ITS SNOWING!" he yelled as he ran down the hallway. He grabbed his snowboard, his boots and other miscellaneous snow gear before bolting out the door.

_Back in the Tao's room, _Tao Ren groaned slowly crawling out of his sheet-cocoon, _great, just great, 7 days alone with Ainu-Baka_ he thought bitterly as he realized no one else was home. Yoh and Anna were off in Izumo, Chocolove was traveling around looking for someone who liked his comedy, Ryu was off somewhere (probably looking for Lyserg), Manta was out on a vacation with his family to America, Faust and Eliza had moved back to Germany to open a clinic, and his sister was tending to some family business, it would seem that Tao En, his father, had fallen ill do to some unnamed sickness. He and Ainu-Baka had to watch the inn he didn't mind, hell compared to his own home this was heaven on earth.

The Tao stood up, a small pain shot through his head but he didn't mind. He got changed into his usual clothes: a black t-shirt and baggy jeans. He made his was out into the kitchen for one of his favorite thing on Earth…milk. He turned the corner and almost collided with the Ainu "Watch where your going Ainu-Baka" he growled. "ok geez calm down Ren". Ren rolled his eyes and grabbed a glass of milk. _Stupid Ainu, ugh why do I even tolerate him it's not like I like him or anything. Or is it? Oh My Gods what am I thinking like that of course I hate him _the Tao fought with himself mentally, meanwhile Horo waltzed back into the room. "Hey Ren?". "what do you want!" he snapped more harshly than necessary .

"ugh nothing I was just gonna ask if you if you wanted to go watch 'Van Helsing' but I guess not" he began to walk away fuming. _good riddance._ The teen Ainu stared out the window to see the snow falling slowly, He began talking to himself "man why is he such a stuck up bastard, I swear sometimes I wish we hadn't brought him back to life. I hate him!". The Tao's sharp hearing caught all of this, wide eyed and shocked he placed his milk glass down, and bolted outside leaving only an open door and a near empty bottle of milk. _great he must've gone out for a walk. _two hours passed and Ren still wasn't home "o…k… so he's taking a long walk" Horo comforted himself, he walked thought the empty house. He saw an disturbing sight, Ren's coat, shoes, essentially all the winter gear the Tao boy owned was still inside.

_Two hours earlier, _Ren ran away as far as his bare feet could carry him, tears burning his eyes _I cant believe he feels that way, what about the others? Do they think this way about me too? Why am I crying? _he started to believe thoughts .His feet gave out from under him, numbed entirely, he fell face first into the snow, his consciousness drifting "Ho-Horo…" his voice slurred. He lost his battle against the darkness.

_Present time, _Horo grabbed his jacket and shoes and ran out the door, the light snow storm had turned into a blizzard. He didn't care he had to find Ren _o God please tell me he didn't hear me, I was angry I wasn't thinking_ a thought of finding Ren frozen to death scared him beyond imagination. _please be ok Ren._ he stopped to catch his breath. He couldn't even see 2 feet in front of him but he didn't care, He kept his eyes focused on the ground, it was his fault Ren ran off, and now he might have to face the fact that he was the cause of his death. The temperature felt colder than ever -20 degrees by rough estimate, staying outside for as long as Ren had (especially with no jacket) was considered lethal.

He looked up from where he was now, Ren couldn't have gotten far seeing as 1. the snow was getting heavier, which meant a lot of snow (roughly 5ft altogether), and 2. his feet would have gone numb from being uncovered and exposed to snow and frigid air. He saw something that caught his eye, a part of the snow was pushed up as if something was under it, _REN!_ that was the only thought on his mind, he plopped down on his knees and dug at the snow with his hands (which were inside gloves of course) after a few moments of digging he saw a familiar sight, the dark purple tip of Ren's tongari. He dug even more frantically, now knowing that Ren was in fact there. After a few moments of digging Horo managed to uncover him completely, Ren lay there limp, not even breathing. "R-Ren I'm sorry I didn't mean it, any of it…" His voice trailed off, tears now streamed freely from the Ainu's eyes. He sat there for moments before he heard something... it was the slow ragged breathing of Tao Ren. _Huh? He's still alive! Thank gods. _he took off his jacket and wrapped it around the freezing shaman. He lifted Ren and held him in a bridal position and ran as fast as his legs could carry him back to the inn. He reached the inn after what seemed like an eternity, practically pulling the door off its hinges. He placed the unconscious Tao on the couch, placing as many blankets as he could find on Ren. The worried Ainu grabbed the phone dialing 911 (or whatever number the phone number for a hospital is in Japan) as fast as he could.

"Hello 911 what is your emergency?"

"Hello? My friend is really sick, he needs to get to a hospital"

"I'm very sorry sir but due to the blizzard all hospitals in the area haven't been able to send out ambulances."

"Oh Shi-" the operator never heard the full message, the inn lost power.

"Oh GREAT, JUST GREAT!" Horo said, pissed off at the lack of power. He looked over to Ren, who began shivering uncontrollably. "SHIT!" he went over to the Tao to see what was wrong. He put his hand on his forehead…it was freezing. "O Shit!" he wondered what to do…. _o shit, o shit, o shit… this is all my fault….O Gods what am I supposed to do?….… wait didn't Faust leave some medical books when he moved? _he ran into Faust's old room. There were still books on the shelf, Faust used to spend hours re-reading the books looking to see if he'd missed any fact. Horo scanned the shelf looking for the tell tale book. Moments later… "AHA! Faust you really gotta put these things out in the open", be it didn't need to be put out in the open the book was bright blood red compared to all the brown leather books. He flipped through the pages, stopping somewhere in the middle to a page labeled

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** Severe Hypothermia:**

_Symptoms: Core temperature now below 31 degrees Celsius. Skin is cold, may be bluish- gray in color, eyes may be dilated. Victim is very weak, displays a marked lack of coordination, slurred speech, appears exhausted, may appear to be drunk, denies problem and may resist help. There is a gradual loss of consciousness. There may be little or no apparent breathing, victim may be very rigid, unconscious, and may appear dead_.

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He practically dropped the book, it matched everything Ren had perfectly. he looked closer at the page, there was more than just the symptoms there were ways to treat it as well.

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**Treatment for Severe Hypothermia:**

_Treatment: Place patient in a pre-warmed sleeping bag with one or two other people. Skin to skin contact in the areas of the chest (ribs) and neck is effective. Exhale warm air near the patient's nose and mouth, or introduce steam into the area._

_Try to keep the patient awake, ignore pleas of "leave me alone, I'm ok". The patient is in serious trouble, keep a close, continuous watch over the patient._

_Apply mild heat, with the aim of stopping temperature drop, not re-warming._

_If patient has lost consciousness be very gentle, as by now the heart is extremely sensitive. Always assume the patient is revivable, do not give up._

_Check for pulse at the carotid artery. If, after two minutes you find no pulse check on the other side of the neck for two minutes._

_If there is any breathing or pulse, no matter how faint, do not give CPR but keep very close watch for changes in vital signs._

_If no pulse is found begin CPR immediately, stopping only when the heart begins to beat or the person applying CPR can not carry on any longer without endangering himself._

_Medical help is imperative, hospitalization is needed._

_

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Hospitalization? Great the only thing we don't have a hospital._ he ran back out to check on Ren. He looked under the lump of blankets, Ren looked worse, His shivering ceased, his skin gained a bluish-gray tint, and he didn't appear to be breathing. Ren took a ragged breath, it sounded like he was being choked or something. "you can kill me later for this Ren" he said knowing damn well Ren couldn't hear himthe bluenette took off the Tao's now soaked shirt, and hesitantly climbed in under the sheets and put his arm around him trying to warm the Tao. He followed the directions exactly being extra careful because of Ren's current condition. He felt his own consciousness drifting, as sleep once again claimed an unwanting victim.

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What'd y'all think of the first chapter? Is it good ,bad, sucky ? Please review. Flames will be used to roast Marco. 


	2. Author notice

Ok everyone who's replied, and loyal readers… I am sorry I have not been updating… I am lazy… not really, well yeah I am, but that's not the real reason. Since becoming an 8th grader, Homework and projects have come flooding. I have a Science fair project. 2 History reports, a French project, a 20 (double sided) math packet (due later this week) read The Diary of Anne Frank (tis a good book), and additional homework. Please, I'm trying but I'm only one ,14 year old, kid. Give me a few more days and I promise I'll try my hardest to get the next part up (if my brain doesn't explode first)  
Forgive me,  
Nikki Uzumaki


	3. truth

I wanted to say thanks for being patient (even those who weren't) , it took a while to do but here it is, I apologize if its not what you were waiting for… it was only done earlier tonight. (2 hours ago) OOC-ness warning

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Horo's eyes fluttered open, his first thought was that the events of yesterday never happened, that was until he looked beside him and saw Ren. His breathing was still ragged, but at least his skin had regained most of its complexion, now he looked like he was asleep, with the exception of his breathing. "aw man Ren if I knew something like this was going to happen I would have thought before I said anything" he said warily. _Why the hell did I say anything like that, I mean now he'll think I hate him, which is the exact opposite of how I actually feel._ he climbed out of the sheets not taking his eyes off of the Tao, until he took a quick glance out the window, snow was covering more than half of the window (roughly 6.5 ft).  
His ears perked up when he heard something…a voice.. Correction Ren's voice. "…….Horo….." his voice was hoarse but make no mistake he heard his name. He sat beside Ren to hear him better,…He was talking in his sleep. "Ren, I don't know if you can hear me or not but I'm sorry about earlier I didn't me-" he was cut off, Ren began speaking again. "Its ok…I know you didn't mean it" his voice was frail but forgiving, not like it usually was. "why would you do something so stupid? I mean you always call me an idiot" Horo asked half joking. Ren went into a brief coughing fit. 

"I…wasn't thinking. I heard you say you hated me and snapped, I guess". "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean any of it, I promise. In fact…." he paused what he was going to say next. _should I really tell him? I mean what if he doesn't feel the same way? will he remember any of this? Oh well I'll do it. _"what were you going to say Horo?" the sleeping figure asked. "I-I was going to say is….Ashiteru, Ren.". the sleeping figure was silent. "Ren?" the bluenette asked hesitantly. There was still no reply _he must've went back to sleep, what if he remembers all of this?_

**-Inside Ren's sub-conscious- **There stood Ren, alone in the darkness. _the darkness… I hate it. Its always so… depressing. _"Horo" he said absentmindedly. A single ray of light appeared. "Ren, I don't know if you can hear me or not…" _Horo!_ the light seemed to grow brighter the longer the Ainu spoke. "but I'm sorry about earlier" _he thinks it's his fault? "_I didn't" Ren interrupted his sentence "Its ok…I know you didn't mean it" he didn't even try to put up his harsh emotionless wall.

"why would you do something so stupid? I mean you always call me an idiot" _haha just like Horo to try and make light of a serious situation. _Ren rolled his eyes. His breathing was cut short, a momentary coughing fit choked him temporarily. "I…wasn't thinking. I heard you say you hated me and snapped, I guess". "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean any of it, I promise. In fact…." _what was he about to ask? Wait… is he about to say what I think he's gonna say?_. Ren's eyes widened. "I-I was going to say is….Ashiteru, Ren."

that was it. That was precisely what Ren thought Horokeu would say. "Ren?". _do I feel the same way?_ visions of Horo and himself flashed through his head. When they first met, the trip to Dobe village, their fights, right up to the point when he sacrificed his like for the Ainu. Realization dawned on him, he did love the Ainu-baka. It was now apparent that the light wasn't just something there to taunt him, it was the light leading him back. _I'll come back Horo, I promise. _he began running towards the light. (AN: its not the light at the end of the tunnel people, if I were to kill anyone in this series… it'd be Chocolove…but only if he tried his crappy comedy on me)

**Back to Horokeu-** Horo sat eagerly waiting for the Chinese shaman to awaken. Silence shrouded the room. The phone rang, making Horo jump six feet in the air "I thought the phones didn't work?" he said. It now dawned on him that the lights were now on, and the phone kept ringing. He rushed over to pick it up.

"Hello?" he asked questionably.

"yea Horo, its Yoh" Horo didn't know whether to breath a sigh of relief, or panic. Of course Yoh didn't know about Ren, he wasn't there.

"yeah dude?" he questioned the brunette.

"I'm calling from Izumo, we're snowed in. A record 10 ft of snow!" he said awe-struck.

"whoa, we got at least 6 ft over here" Horo replied.

"so how're things over there with Ren? Have you two killed each other yet?" he laughed.

" no, we had an argument earlier, but that's it."

"only that? Jeez it must be the apocalypse or something" the Asakura joked.

"yeah... the end of the world" Horo said halfheartedly.

" hey is anything wrong? Where's Ren?"

" oh, he's sleeping."

"what did he do over train himself again?" the sound of Anna in the background "um, Horo I have to hang up now, bye. Oh by the way, until we get through the snow, Me and Anna are gonna be stuck up here"

"dude…" he couldn't let the Shaman king walk away from that double meaning.

"not like that! My mom and dad are here" Yoh said, distressed for once.

"I was only kidding see ya dude, I'll tell Ren you said 'hey' "the phone clicked on the other side after a quick 'bye'.

A low groan attracted the Ainu-boy's attention. There was Ren awake, sitting on the couch. A clouded expression adorned his face, he's half awake golden eyes were so beautiful. "Horo…"

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oooo... cliffy... next may be shorter than usual.  
So waddya think? Ren's awake and mostly out of harms way PLEASE REVIEW! all who review shall receive a HoroRen plushie couple (holds up one of many boxes of HoroRen plushies) 


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